Bars
by QueenOfCitrus
Summary: LeviEren: Patience is the ultimate virtue - the patience to build your own prison, the willpower to then swallow the key. And there are some nights when Levi wishes he could force open the door of his cage, though reality has shown him that, ultimately, he is most comfortable behind bars. Even if Eren is on the other side of them. One-shot. M-rated for a reason.


**_A/N: First attempt at this fandom. :) Thank TillThatTime for the patient input on the Battle of the Tenses._**

**_Warning: Angst, adult content, angst, boyxboy, angst._**

* * *

_Bars_

It starts just like every other such night – with lust, born from the most profound and human starvation; with thirst, which contradicts, and yet compliments that one similar yearning for blood and vengeance they all know to control.

_And where will it end this time? _

Although it's nowhere near a new experience, on the inside, Levi will still be numb for a few minutes longer, more of an observant than a participant in this sick feast of flesh; closed off from himself and thus closed off from Eren, too. It's not easy to let go. Eren never fully understands why, and the aggression of their first contact, always to be expected, always coming from the younger soldier, makes Levi want to chuckle. After all this time, the damn boy still hasn't learned to show a single crumb of patience, not even for his own sake... In fact, no matter how frequently Levi had taken it upon himself to teach the lesson in the past, Eren's just proven to be, time and again, the most unpromising student there is.

Levi supposes he will just have to accept that some things never change.

At first, Levi had mistaken his new protégé's inability to wait and think for a display of blatant disrespect – after all, humanity's strongest was nothing if not used to the sound of his orders echoing unopposed, to his decisions remaining unquestioned and his will honoured like the behest of a god. A big mouth was not to be tolerated, and he'd made a point to convince Eren of this fact in front of the entire court shortly after he'd met the brat for the first time, and yet the issues with the kid's self-restraint hadn't ended with just this one silly outburst. Little things, every other day, tiny doubts voiced among the salutes of agreement, questions muttered, and ground out, and blurted unwittingly, and the youth just wouldn't _shut up_. Levi had considered a second demonstration to put the boy back into his place, but eventually he'd changed his mind and decided to look at things from another angle.

In truth, age was something Levi rarely thought about or bothered to tot up into the equation – nobody was too young to die, so why should he defer between his soldiers based on whose brain and character had had the courtesy to develop enough to survive? The annoying thing was, though, that age _did_ matter. And while Eren had seen more in his lifetime than a fifteen-year-old ever should… he was still one snotty little child, clumsily trying to keep up with the adults.

Which happens to be the case now.

The bars of the cell let out a thin, metallic clink as they collide with the edges of Levi's buckles. The give-away sound bounces off the dark walls and escapes through the corridors of the dungeon, but there is no one to hear, no one to witness this horrible, unfathomable aberration – which is why this place is exactly perfect for the type of crime they are about to commit. Something about Eren's old cell is a dead turn on, though perhaps another factor would be that Levi has always, to a certain extent, had issues with authority. His own power in rank has in many ways been more or less a husk that they'd pulled over him to try and use his abilities for their own purposes – he's let himself be a tool for humanity's benefit rather than embrace any sort of real influence they've pretended to hand him over, and being aware of it is sometimes worse than ignorance. Maybe that's why _this_ is so difficult to resist anymore; the knowledge that he's doing something so awful right under his superiors' noses brings back a sense of freedom, an illusion of being given the chance to make his own choices.

Which is all this is, really. A tiny high in his flat world; the conquering that tomorrow will be ashes when his life is once again measured up as that one coin, valuable enough to pay for the future of hundreds of others. Eren is till this day unable to fully comprehend this simple little truth: a weapon that is made to kill, cannot love and cannot ever fully be alive. But his ignorance and denial is probably part of what is so attractive about the boy – his hope, his absolutely ungrounded passion to prevail above all tells him apart from the other grey and haggard faces which Levi has to deal with on a daily basis. The tragedy lies in the fact that Eren can't – because how could he? - win, even with this unexplained gift of his. And worse yet, Levi is unwilling to tell him otherwise, and lets him believe he is capable of changing the world if he tries hard enough - which isn't fair. Levi is not very good at being subjective, so why would he deliberately deceive another person, if it will bring them both no benefit.

Morbid interest perhaps? Or just pity?

Or something else that has become so stale in his heart, that he can no longer recognize its true nature?

If Eren's mouth wasn't on top of his own right now and if those incredibly persistent hands weren't clutching the straps that run perpendicular to his shoulders, the corporal would've probably scoffed. He can feel himself losing some of his inner armor, splinter by splinter, flake by flake, but he knows that even after they are done, in the single moment of utmost vulnerability that will mark their uncanny union, he'd still be whole – though he'd be quite possibly be watching Eren fall apart in his hands, like a fragile clay figurine that's lost its balance and tumbled from the shelf. That's what makes him so different from Eren, after all. Levi can never completely bare himself to anyone, ever, and trust them to not use it against him later. He will be entertained by the numerous little cracks and crevices that Eren's facade will unwilling expose the further they sink into their shared darkness, but it would always be incredibly one-sided.

The boy should have learned this much by now, anyway.

As Eren pulls back from the kiss just enough to catch his breath, Levi wonders if the minor height difference between them has given the brat the silly idea that he could one day establish some form of dominance in their relationship. The thought itself is ridiculous, and should therefore be immediately crushed – not an awful lot of work, really, and Levi doesn't mind doing it either way. All it takes is for the corporal to tighten his grip around the other's collar (knowing Eren, he's been so far gone in the liplock, he hasn't even noticed where his partner's hands have sneaked) and the moment the boy tries to latch on to Levi again, his mouth catches empty air. The distance between them can't be more than an inch, but in that little space, Eren is all but suffocating, eager, burning in his solitude, whereas Levi has to maintain a strict hold of himself to keep himself from smiling.

"What was that?" the corporal whispers, and it's amazing how a voice so soft can feel like it's made of blades. "Just now, Jaeger, what was it?"

Eren's gaze is almost blind with arousal. Levi watches those young green eyes as they shift back and forth between his grey and static irises of his lover, and there is a pleading on the boy's face, and frustration, and – _of course_ – impatience. His hands shake a little around the straps of Levi's uniform, and although there is an apology forming, a need to give in just so they can continue, the brat's stubbornness is still holding up, and he growls as he tries again, to attack the shorter man's mouth. Levi reacts like he would in a battle. Before Eren can so much as elicit an angry yelp, his face is pressed into the cell bars, his right arm twisted behind his back where Levi holds him firmly, making sure there is absolutely no unnecessary contact between their bodies.

Eren groans, "_Levi_…"

"No." Simple. Clean. No discussions. It's a little cruel, but this is a cruel world. And things will be done Levi's way, or no way at all.

The seconds tick by empty and tense. Eren's erstwhile cage is unbearably cold around them, and the attraction between them is all the more palpable with the heat they both crave and both radiate. Levi is, however, used to depriving himself of all sorts of things, and even though Eren's not had a very easy life himself, he's just a child: and children can never fully control their emotions.

The corporal feels the shudder that runs down his lover's spine, and his right brow very slowly arches up with curiosity. What it costs him is several more moments, but then the tightness in Eren's muscles subsides and the boy's left hand lifts up to wrap around the cold cell bars. "I'm sorry…"

Levi is glad that Eren's back is turned to him, so that the boy cannot see the way his superior's eyes flutter shut for a moment, and one long, sweet breath fills him up, overwhelms him with the delectable taste of this tiny surrender. He steps up and he's almost flush against Eren's back, the only hindrance being his grip around the boy's right wrist that he's yet to relinquish. His left forearm, that he's previously held across the brat's upper back and neck, eases off, and he lets his fingers roam down the kid's spine, feel and soak up every stray tremble and quiver. Levi takes his time pulling his lover's shirt free of his trousers, and then he dips into the patch of bared skin, caressing for once, flesh that has not been marred by the horrors of the real world outside. Eren's breath hitches in the by now painfully familiar manner, and the gasp comes as always, when the corporal's calloused palm reaches his flat stomach.

"No one saw you come down here, did they?" Levi asks matter-of-factly, which he knows would positively infuriate his lover. Even without looking, he can tell Eren is clenching his teeth at the interruption, and yet despite his natural teenage eagerness, he has the common sense to just shake his head no rather than try to argue against the procrastination. Smiling to himself, Levi unfastens the boy's belt with well-trained efficiency and listens to his partner draw a breath of air through his teeth as his trousers are pulled down his hips just enough to provide access, but still keep him uncomfortably clothed. "We wouldn't want someone to decide to check on you and see you like this, do we?"

Levi gives no chance for a response – it wouldn't have been anything smart or articulate either way, and besides, he doesn't think his lover would appreciate any more delays. His hand slips between Eren's legs and the moan that follows his wrapping his fingers around the boy's erection, is enough to make his own cock throb with need. It's one simple little touch, but Eren nearly collapses against the bars, his knees shaking as Levi moves his fingers down the engorged length and squeezes the tip, smearing the drop of the moisture that's collected there with a dull fingernail. The stimulation might be a little too much, a little too soon, but then again, Levi has always liked making his lovers rush to catch up with the pace he sets. He flicks the sensitive flesh again, and this time Eren bucks, a pitiful whimper escaping him, though so far any cursing or insistence to hurry up are quenched. _Good, boy, maybe you're learning after all... _

Eren probably still remembers what happened that one time at the start of their relationship when Levi had got fed up with the boy's constant, smug attempts to attract his superior's attention during the day. After enduring hours of pushing meant to get a reaction out of him, the corporal had finally had enough with the circus and resolved to put an end to it. He'd snatched the brat into an empty room, pressed his face into the door and kicked his feet apart in a posture much akin to their current one but far less pleasant for either of them. _Is this what you fucking wanted, you little slut,_ he'd hissed, running a single finger between Eren's clothed ass cheeks. The little whine he'd received as an answer had only helped fuel his annoyance (though for whatever reason, he could feel his groin trying to respond to the noise in its own inappropriate way), and he'd ground his teeth as he'd smacked the boy soundly on the butt to prompt out a proper had been, of course, none. The temptation to continue disciplining the brat in that very much fitting fashion was almost too much to resist, but Levi hadn't had time for that. Instead, he had covered Eren's insolent mouth with his hand, gripped him roughly through the clothes, and jerked and rubbed him – _if you think I'll so much as touch your sorry ass… - _until the boy cummed uncontrollably into his own underwear, humiliatingly fast and with little more than a muffled keen into Levi's palm. Levi would never admit out loud just how hard he had been himself once he'd finished bestowing his '_attention_' on the arrogant fifteen-year-old soldier, and how difficult it had been to keep himself in check when he'd barked into Eren's flustered face to get back to training, deservingly covered in his own filth, until he'd earned the right to clean himself up. After that incident, the brat had never again tried to publicly divert from the norm in their formal relationship, though if he actually had, Levi would've gladly reeducated him with maybe one or two more details to add to the punishment than just the simple discomfort of walking around oversensitive and sticky with his own cum…

"_God_," the trousers slip a little bit lower down Eren's legs and Levi's mouth twitches in a barely-there smirk as he begins a torturously slow rhythm of strokes down the kid's prick. That perky little ass moves back, bumping into Levi's crotch and the corporal stiffens, a tiny shock of pleasure running up his body at the contact. A part of him wants to grind into the teen's behind right away, bend the brat over, take him this very second without any form of initial preparation - but what kind of example of self-control would that be? And besides, he would much rather see Eren grapple to keep himself together – not the other way around.

When the kid slumps even further against the bars, his sweat-covered palm slipping down an inch against the iron, the corporal relents and releases his partner's wrist to give Eren the chance to hold on better. Once he has his other hand to work with, Levi yanks his lover's trousers to his knees, the gasp of surprise on Eren's lips quickly ripping into a moan as Levi brushes a tantalizing finger over the other's entrance, feeling the distinctive twitch of the opening as it gives in under the naughty caress. This little touch alone seems to make Eren's erection respond and Levi pumps the hot member faster, simultaneously dipping the very tip of his finger through the rim of the pulsing hole.

"_Nngh!_"

This time the corporal can't hold back a soft chuckle as he watches the youth squirm under the minute dry intrusion. It's incredibly easy to get the brat leaking and moaning just for him – to the point where sometimes Levi is tempted to tie Eren up and keep teasing until he peels off every last layer of the boy's defiance. There is, however, no time for such luxuries in the military line of work. Thus Levi chases away any thoughts of sensual torture and worms his index finger up to the first joint inside his lover, reveling then in the way Eren quivers around the violation, his young body clearly torn between trying to wriggle away or push back against the breach.

"Is that all it's going to take for you to finish?" Levi mocks. "Maybe you don't need me after all."

Through the ever more pronounced gasps of frustration and pleasure, Eren turns to send a weak glower in Levi's direction, but as hard as he's probably trying, the incinerating look yields no results. Giving the boy no time to brace himself, Levi pulls his hand back to lick his fingers and with almost clinical expertise, slips one in all the way to the knuckle. The reaction he gets is gorgeous. If not for the hand that now maintains a solid grip around the base of his aching cock, Eren would've surely raised to the balls of his feet at the sensation – but as it is, he can only let out a soft cry, clinging tighter to the bars of the cell. The shuddery breath that escapes the brat is delicious, and it becomes sweeter still with the tinge of pain which stains it when Levi slowly drags his finger out, letting the boy feel every last inch, before he rams a second digit deep into the younger male.

Eren gives up a sharp hiss.

"Too fast?" Levi teases, and he wouldn't actually mind getting an answer – even if he knows for a fact that Eren's obstinate temper will probably keep him from admitting to any problems. He waits though, as much as to grant his partner the chance to reconsider, as to let him adjust to the penetration. At the end, there is only heavy breathing dripping from the kid's lips, clouding the cold iron of the bars he's leaning against, and Levi steps closer, actually letting Eren feel his clothed arousal this time. "Nothing at all? Interesting. You usually have so many stupid things to say…"

Maintaining the facade is not easy. Feeling the slick, hot skin under his touch, the depraved wetness of the swollen cock, the sinful heat inside Eren's tightness – and staying detached. Locking his heart away from it all. It's not easy at all. Levi works the kid up at both ends, feeds him ecstasy that is streaked with pain, and drinks in the sight of his young, naïve and overwhelmed body as it keens on, as it writhes, as it is abused so thoroughly and so willingly, and so beautifully that it's almost too much to watch. The moment he finds the brat's sweet spot, Levi nearly shudders at the sob of pleasure that Eren elicits, and the feeling of that little hole as it clenches lewdly around the invasion makes him bite his mouth in order to contain himself from doing something too rash. He's got three fingers inside the brat now, and he's still fully clothed, lost instead in the sight, the smell, the feel of someone else's undoing – an undoing that he can never allow himself to experience.

"Levi…"

It's only when he hears his name that he realizes he's leaned his forehead against Eren's shoulder and closed his eyes. There is a strange stillness between them all of a sudden; an entire new world of it, and it dazes Levi for a second until he comes back to his senses.

"What?" it should've been sharp, but comes out somewhat weary. Eren seems unsure for an awfully long moment, and when he moves, he is surprisingly careful. _Patient_ even, and Levi doesn't protest, though he doesn't encourage it, either. When he finds himself with his back once again pressed against the bars and his partner kneeling in his feet, when he sees Eren, hair matted with sweat, body slightly shaking from the emptiness in his aching, when those hands work his trouser open, all that Levi can do is stay completely quiet. The relief of his cock being let out of the confines of his uniform is more powerful than he's imagined, and he hisses at the first contact of Eren's hand with his neglected cock. "_Ahh._"

The dungeon does a little tilt and he reaches back with one hand to grip the bars for support. It's been a while since he's allowed Eren do anything like that for him; usually he wouldn't let the boy waste time with an overly long foreplay. Besides, as much as he enjoys seeing Eren dismiss his own needs to satisfy Levi's, oral sex has the awful tendency to always reach an unsettling point where the younger man actually succeeds in making his partners squirm. And the corporal doesn't do squirming – not even if it comes hand in hand with one of the most sinfully intense sensations ever, as is the privilege of fucking unruly Eren Jaeger in the mouth.

"Don't get carried away," Levi grinds out, as strictly as he can, given the fact that his heart is already racing. This is probably one of the rare situations where he's noticed his partner likes to linger – as in the few such cases before, now too, Eren strokes him slowly and sensually at first, his lidded green eyes drinking in the sight of just how aroused he's made his otherwise cool and composed superior. The moments drag by, Levi's breathing seems awfully amplified, abnormally big and long and loud, and he hates it. All he sees is the person before him, and that tendency to single out, to narrow the attention to something so small and selected as one particular human being, makes Levi feel dully uneasy beneath the expanding pleasure. _They should all weight the same; their lives should all mean the same…_

With a dirty slurp, Eren licks up from the corporal's aching balls all the way to the tip of the awaiting cock, where he presses his tongue into the slit and deliberately massages the sensitive flesh; tasting it. Levi has to clench his jaw to keep himself from making any abrupt motions. A wave of heat washes over him, absolutely overpowering even though he persists to stay in charge of what he feels, and he wonders if closing his eyes would make it easier. He supposes it would – but for a variety of reasons he simply cannot do that. Just watching Eren is a ridiculously enticing treat to savor. The sight of the boy, grazing his lips adoringly along the glistening head of Levi's hard-on, Eren's exposed cock, now twitching in neglect between his thighs, the look of lusty worship on his flushed face and this unique, illogical display of obedience that has brought him down to his knees in order to just _please_ – this composition alone is enough to almost drive humanity's strongest to the level of a weak and susceptible man.

But _that_ can under no circumstances, ever happen.

Eren's left hand goes to Levi's hip, the right fastening tightly around the base of the corporal's shaft. Then Eren wraps his mouth around the tip and slowly moves down, devouring inch after inch, an inhibition after another, as Levi tries to hold on, tries to keep his crumbling restraint from disclosing whatever rot he's let years of self-discipline hide from himself and from the world. The brat's lips hit his own fist and for a single instant Levi feels a strange pang of apprehension for having let the young soldier do this to him. But then Eren starts sucking him in earnest and any ludicrously sensible thoughts melt in the heat of the eager little mouth that is working him like a damn instrument. The look of absurd bliss on the boy's face is something Levi both revels into, but fails to understand. He watches his cock emerge and disappear between those swollen lips, listens to the dirty swooshing sound of saliva and pre-cum mixing together into this obscene lubricant; and he doesn't get it. He doesn't see _why_ Eren would want to do it. He feels the tightness, the warmth, the swirl of that tongue beneath his dick's throbbing head – and he refuses to dissolve for that boy, though the temptation is excruciating.

When Eren actually hums around his mouthful, Levi grabs onto the kid's hair, twisting a little too roughly. "That's enough," he pants, because he's too close to even admit it. "You can stop now. That was adequate." Despite the pull on his scalp, Eren delves back down again, repeating the forbidden action and earning himself an actual, unbridled groan of pleasure from the otherwise levelheaded captain. This time Levi feels his skin prickle with anger and he yanks the boy off him, his scowl only deepening at the flash of a grin that he sees pass across Eren's features. He shoves the boy down to the ground, and grinds out, unforgiving, "Turn around."

Eren seems a little thrown off for a second, his satisfaction waning a little at the cold order, but he complies eventually, getting on all fours as Levi has commanded him to do. Levi steels his mind as he lowers himself behind the boy, as he puts his hand at the small of the other's back. _This is just a body. _He deems himself lubricated enough, Eren – as prepared as he can get given the circumstances – and presses the head of his cock against the exposed entrance. A hollow moment passes between them and the corporal extinguishes any qualms he might have; the kid is not an amateur. They are done playing it gentle, they are done dragging it out.

_He is just a body. _

A pained whimper escapes Eren's lips and Levi watches those slender fingers curl against the hard floor in mute search for something to cling to, but nothing else, no precise demands or pleadings for reprieve make it to the surface; so Levi gives none. He carries on, steady, always steady –as Levi Ackerman will forever be – and feels to his very core, as Eren opens up for him, accepts him, hurts for him. There is something so sensual, so selfish, and yet impossible about what they are doing, and there is a little '_together_' trying to sneak in, and Levi brushes it off, resents that word for trying to slither its poison into his one moment of indulgence. It's only when he's all the way in that he hears a more definite sound of discomfort falling from his partner's lips, and something inside the corporal flickers; is it _guilt_? His hand is around the boy's somewhat softened erection before he's realized what he is doing, and he strokes Eren back into a full hardness as he waits for him to adjust.

Unlike the brat beneath him, Levi is a patient man.

"I'm good," Eren gasps at last. "I'm good. Go on… _God_… I'm-… So full… I'm so-"

Levi cut him off when he draws himself out, and any mumbling on the other's side become a shaky moan, then another, then another - a shredded and carnal litany that reeks of as much want, as it drips with despair. There is a trace of vengeance in the corporal's thrusts, and less self-control than usual as he grips Eren's hips and pulls himself fully out, only to slam back in, without any mercy, without any care, time and again. Right away, he's picked up a slow, hard rhythm – each ram in itself is a little punishment, each withdraw is tainted with denial that he needs to gnash his teeth to fence away – and he doesn't stop, or change, or second-guess what he's doing. _Just a body. _Eren's ass is clenching around him so deliciously, his back bowing so expressively, that a part of Levi wants to go further – to allow himself to stroke more freely and convey an emotion more personal that lust with his fingers, his lips, his cock. Again, he has to resist, and it's beyond frustrating.

Because he's so fucking _starved_ for it.

For this _brat_.

And, God…_God_, Eren's tight…

Levi feels the sweat bead above his brow and drench his shirt, and he remembers he is still almost completely dressed, just like Eren whose trousers are bunched around his knees, restricting his movements as he is pounded from behind like a mere whore. The cell is filled to the brim with the smell of sex, so potent that it'll cling to the walls and the floor long after its two current guests have left. Somewhere in between the thrusting, Eren murmurs that he wants to switch positions and turn around to look at his partner, but Levi ignores the request and continues fucking the kid this way. _His _way. He makes sure Eren can feel every ridge of him, the full length of him, as he slips inside and then out; an erotic friction between two aching bodies that wound themselves as much as they heal their battle bruises. _This is what it is, _Levi wants to scream, _All it is. All it will be._

But he can't. He can't say it. And he keeps going, keeps fucking, until he fucks the affection out of Eren, and the patience out of himself

Then Eren whispers it – one simple little _please_, and Levi falters. They seem to stop moving for a full eternity, before he remembers himself. Then his body goes on autopilot and rejects him so suddenly, that Levi barely realizes he's yanked himself out of the hot cavern and flipped the other on his back, until he's ripped the boy's trousers away and plunged right back into the twitching tunnel hard enough to make Eren and himself skid across the floor. This time Eren's scream is loud enough to make the corporal's ears ring.

"_Shit, _right there!"

And then there is no waiting anymore, no delaying. Something breaks inside him, and Levi can hold back no more; he drives into his partner at a brutal pace, watching the kid's mouth fall open, his young features contorting with desperate and absolute need as his prostate is ground into with every merciless thrust. _Again, again, again…_ Eren's hands grapple from his biceps and those long legs wrap around his waist, and the corporal lets it happen, let's the connection happen – though he _should not_ - and his mind and vision swim as he admits defeat in the face of this unspoken addiction. Every time he's balls deep inside this boy, he is complete. Every time those muscles tighten around him, he breaks. It feels so right, and so good, and so wrong, and so useless. He's getting close, he's getting too close – to himself too, and to what he really feels – and that makes him angry, and he pounds the boy harder. Eren's fingers scratch the fabric of his shirt, and he won't be surprised if his uniform has torn somewhere, but that seems irrelevant and stupid now. He can tell his partner is at his brink, too, and he grabs the boy's leaking cock with one hand without actually thinking about it.

_No more. No more._

_I can't look at you-_

Eren's palm is surprisingly cool on his face and Levi almost flinches when he feels it there, turning his eyes away from the floor and back towards those green irises. _When did I- _Their mouths mash together, and the world stops. A shiver, an explosion, not just physical.

But there is no sound.

* * *

"I think we should stop."

There are voids in every syllable that leaves Levi's lips, but somehow the meaning reaches its target and Eren freezes, his hands around the buckle of his belt. He looks up and his confusion is genuine, if a little disbelieving. In his own way, he is asking if he's heard right.

"In fact," Levi continues, folding his arms in front of his chest as he leans back against the cell's bars and lifts one boot-clad foot against one of the poles. "I know we should. It's gone too far already, and I don't know why I thought it would be worth the risk."

Eren lets out something that vaguely resembles a scoff, but when he looks down and continues fixing his clothes, the corporal notices a distinctive tremble in the boy's fingers. "I thought you need to do something _often_ in order to get bored."

"It's not about that. It's-" Swallow. Don't let your voice give you up. Then the usual, dry words. "Distracting. _Inappropriate_."

If Eren looks at him now, he'll crumble; he can just feel it. His skin is still tingling from too much human contact. His mind is too hazy. His armor has not had the time to thicken again.

But Eren does not look up. Eren cannot look up, because if he does, he'd crumble himself – for another reason entirely – and just like Levi, he can't allow himself to be seen, or to be perceived, as anything other than strong.

"Okay," Eren says very quietly and Levi nods before he can have the time to feel the tightness in his throat at how easy this is. _I didn't want any resistance, anyway. _Or is that yet another lie? He turns around and yanks the unlocked door open, not bothering to look over his shoulder as he waits for Eren. But the silence stretches, and stretches, not even broken by a single shuffle of feet across the stone floor. And then, one final thing. "I can wait," before Jaeger brushes past him and heads towards the staircase. As Levi watches his stiff back move away, a single annoying thought scraps against his mind tauntingly.

That maybe Eren isn't that impatient after all.


End file.
